Chapter 115
The closer they came to Liaozhou, the heavier the snow fell.
According to the letter, Shen Yuan had divided his forces between two routes while transporting government grain past Black Tiger Mountain. His party had carried the smaller portion of the grain. Then, unfortunately, he had encountered bandits and disappeared on Black Tiger Mountain along with the grain and carriages.
Xie Chengze guessed that Shen Yuan had probably anticipated an ambush on Black Tiger Mountain, but had not been sure which route the bandits would attack. So he had taken the smaller portion of grain along the likelier route himself.
And had indeed run into them.
Since it was the smaller shipment, the escort must have been short-handed. If the bandits had been numerous and their leader possessed some skill, it would hardly be surprising for Shen Yuan to have suffered a setback and been injured. The question was where he was now, and whether his life was in danger.
Three days later, Xie Chengze finally reached Black Tiger City, the county town where Black Tiger Mountain stood.
Legend held that when Black Tiger City was first being established, its location could not be settled, leaving the authorities in great difficulty. Just then, a black tiger suddenly appeared lying on a mountaintop, roaring day and night in majestic splendor. Everyone took this as an auspicious sign, so they located the county town here, built its walls, and named it – Black Tiger City.
The mountain on which the tiger had lain was also called Black Tiger Mountain, facing Black Tiger City from afar.
As soon as they entered the county town, Xie Chengze tossed Hu Lai several silver ingots. “Hu Lai, go buy two cartloads of grain and winter clothes, and a carriage.”
“Yes.” Taking the ingots, Hu Lai glanced at Xie Chengze’s weary face, which looked as though he might collapse at any moment, and asked with concern, “Your Highness, perhaps you should rest here for a day…”
Xie Chengze waved a hand and coughed twice. “No need. Go quickly.”
Hu Lai could only nod and leave.
Finding a restaurant, Xie Chengze ordered a pot of warm wine to warm himself, then began dozing on a bench.
Xie Zimiao’s backside hurt so much from riding that he could not sit on the bench at all. He followed the waiter to fetch the wine, borrowed a knife from the kitchen, and sliced ginseng into it.
Sleeping groggily, Xie Chengze felt Xie Zimiao hand him a wine cup. His nose was blocked, so although he caught a faint, odd medicinal smell, he suspected nothing and swallowed it in one gulp.
The next instant, he felt something flow from beneath his nose, and his whole body began heating up.
He touched beneath his nose and looked at the blood on his hand: ?
Beside him, Xie Zimiao looked horrified. He hastily raised his sleeve to wipe the blood away, muttering, “Too much, too much…”
Xie Chengze pointed at Xie Zimiao. “You…”
What did you put in it –
The next instant, he lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he was in a clinic. Xie Zimiao held a little container of ointment, bending down to carefully apply it to the places on his inner thighs rubbed raw from riding.
Noticing that Xie Chengze was awake, Xie Zimiao hastily set down the ointment and said joyfully, “Second Brother! You’re awake!”
Then he said guiltily, “I’m sorry, Second Brother. I only meant to add some old ginseng to nourish you. I didn’t expect to put in too much and make you faint outright.”
“Old ginseng?” Xie Chengze finally knew what that barely perceptible medicinal smell had been. He sat up, dizzy and muddle-headed. More than blaming anyone for the ginseng being too potent, he just wanted to pull up his trousers immediately.
As he pulled them up, he asked, “What time is it?”
“Not much time has passed,” Xie Zimiao answered honestly. He reached out to help, only for Xie Chengze to slap his hand away. Pouting, he continued, “I wanted to let you sleep a little longer, but the old physician brought you around with just a few needles…”
Seeing Xie Zimiao’s frustrated expression, Xie Chengze could not help smiling. He flicked the boy’s forehead. “All right, don’t worry. Second Brother knows his limits.”
Rubbing the spot he had flicked, Xie Zimiao was about to say something when a commotion suddenly sounded outside. Someone shouted in panic, “Physician! Save him, quickly! My brother was bitten by a big cat! Please save him!”
A big cat?
Xie Chengze and Xie Zimiao exchanged a look, rose, and left the clinic’s inner room. A middle-aged man had run inside carrying an unconscious man on his back. Something had torn a great mass of flesh from half the unconscious man’s leg, almost exposing the stark white bone beneath!
Someone recognized the man carrying him. “Isn’t that the man from the Sun family? Didn’t you all go up Black Tiger Mountain to cut firewood together early this morning? Where are the others? Why haven’t they come back?”
“The big cat came down the mountain! The big cat came down!” the Sun man said in terror. “It killed so many people! I barely managed to escape! Physician! Please save my brother!”
“What?!” The passersby outside the clinic were horrified and asked those beside them, “Did your husbands go to cut firewood today?”
“Oh, no! My son went up the mountain today! Will he be all right?!”
“My husband’s right eyelid kept twitching this morning, so he didn’t go… Thank goodness, thank goodness…”
“There really is a big cat on Black Tiger Mountain… The rumors weren’t false. What a terrible calamity!”
Hearing this, Xie Zimiao stepped forward and asked the old man who had spoken, “Sir, what rumors were you talking about just now?”
“You’re from elsewhere, aren’t you?” Seeing Xie Zimiao’s fine clothing, the old man shook his head and sighed. “They say there’s a Black Tiger Stronghold on Black Tiger Mountain, full of bandits. Its chief keeps a white-furred big cat – a white tiger – that comes down the mountain from time to time, specifically to rob passing merchants!”
“But no one knows whether it’s true. No one has ever seen Black Tiger Stronghold on the mountain, or seen the tiger, and the authorities say it’s false too. Sometimes, though, we really do hear something like a tiger roaring up there…”
“Now that someone’s been bitten, it seems there really is a tiger on Black Tiger Mountain, and there really are bandits!” the old man said fearfully. “I’d been thinking of cutting firewood to sell tomorrow too. Now, it seems my life is more important!”
Xie Zimiao glanced at Xie Chengze.
After considering briefly, Xie Chengze asked, “Why did the authorities say the rumors were false? Have they searched the mountain?”
“Yes!” The old man nodded. “Several times. They never found a thing!”
An apparently nonexistent Black Tiger Stronghold, a tiger that bit people, passing merchants who were robbed, and the missing Shen Yuan… What connection was there between them?
Xie Chengze rubbed the knot of red fur-coat ties before his collarbone, feeling that these clues were as tightly knotted as the ties in his hand. He lowered his eyes in thought until, at a certain moment, he suddenly looked up and asked, “Sir, are there bandits on any mountains other than Black Tiger Mountain?”
“Oh, far too many!” The old man shook his head and warned kindly, “On the other mountains, they do more than rob merchants. That’s why Black Tiger Mountain is the only place we dare cut firewood! If you leave the city, you must be careful.”
Xie Chengze smiled in understanding. “Interesting. It seems we really will have to rest here for a day.”
…
“Your Highness, what we learned was much the same.”
At the inn, Wuhen and Wuji put together the information they had gathered and found it largely identical.
Wuji analyzed it. “If it can conceal itself so well, this Black Tiger Stronghold is probably not to be underestimated. If they truly have subdued a white tiger, their chief’s fighting ability must be considerable. Perhaps Shen Yuan fell into that person’s hands.”
“Second Brother, should we go to Black Tiger Stronghold to look for him?” Xie Zimiao considered. “Vice Minister Shen might be there.”
“Didn’t they say this Black Tiger Stronghold leaves no trace?” Xie Chengze tapped his fingers on the table, his little eyes narrowed over some unknown thought. “The authorities searched the mountain several times without finding it. How could we possibly find it?”
“Then what does Your Highness intend?” Wuhen asked softly. “Should Wuji and I try?”
“No need.” Xie Chengze shook his head. “Didn’t you hear? The old man said there are many bandits around here, yet Black Tiger Mountain alone has no trace of them…”
Xie Zimiao scratched his head and said miserably, “I feel like my brain is dying. Second Brother, I really can’t work it out.”
Xie Chengze smiled faintly and rubbed his hair. “Instead of suppressing bandits on the other mountains, the authorities keep targeting Black Tiger Mountain… There must be something behind this. Tonight, we’ll pay a secret visit to the county yamen.”
His guess was that Black Tiger Stronghold existed, yet did not exist.
And Shen Yuan was most likely no longer on Black Tiger Mountain.